EUPHORIA || L. MESSI

Part 11: Giggles and Girls' Nights

I woke up slowly to the bed moving underneath me, and I had to squint once I opened my eyes for the bright light of the morning was blinding in my sleepy state. Head rested on Leo's bare chest, a smile crossed my lips at the memory of what had happened the night before. It felt good to wake up with security about my relationship, with the man I could admit I loved sleeping below me.

He was actually still asleep, as I had to look up to see, and the sight of him resting so peacefully made my heart flutter. Eyes shut with the light from beyond the curtains illuminating his face, he looked angelic, and I took the opportunity to properly study his features for it was the first time I had had the opportunity in months. His beard was neatly trimmed, with slight greying specks appearing more and more, complimenting the way his skin aged so perfectly. From the angle I was lay, with one of his arms wrapped around my waist, I could see the arm which had all the tattoos, and I subconsciously began to trace the detailed painting of the eye on his bicep.

I became so engrossed in my actions, I didn't notice he was awake until a content chuckle escaped his lips. Snapping my head up, I was met with his brown eyes shimmering slightly orange in the light, a grin on his lips.

"Good morning." He croaked sleepily, and I turned to rest my chin properly in between the muscles on his chest. Leo responded by stretching down to kiss to me on the nose.

"Morning."

Now I had stopped studying his tattoos, he wrapped both of his arms around my body, the lack of clothing meaning that I could feel the warmth of his body next to mine, a feeling I wanted to treasure forever. "This is nice.."

I chuckled at him, nodding along and pressing a satisfied kiss to his chest. "I wish we could wake up like this every morning."

"Okay, don't be getting too cheesy on me now."

I gaped playfully at his joke, tapping his chest in disapproval "If anything, you're the cheesiest out of us both!"

He laughed softly and gripped his arms around my body tighter, suddenly rolling us over until he was on top of my smaller frame, rocking back and forth a little. In surprise, I let out a small scream, and my reaction made him more intent on annoying me, for he began to tickle my sides, the skin to skin contact making me more ticklish than usual. He showed very little remorse as I squealed and scrawled below him, trying to wriggle free from his grip but he had me trapped between his thighs.

"Leo!" I giggled, attempting to fight him off with all of my might. My shuffling only made him more set on tickling me, and he eventually managed to trap my hands above my head, stopping me there but giving me a moment to breathe.

"I like this position." He teased with a wink, and I tried to break free once more but he held me down.

"I sleep with you once and suddenly you're Mr. Charmer."

My comment caused yet another chuckle to slip through his lips, and he quickly bent down to peck my lips, his grip remaining on my wrists. "I've always been Mr. Charmer. You just made me too nervous to show it."

I gasped playfully, mimicking hurt despite my inability to clasp my chest like I usually would. "Are you saying I no longer give you butterflies?"

"Oh no, if anything they've intensified." He spoke honestly, but as I watched his features twist into a smirk, I could almost see the thought process, and my own heart started racing as he bent down once again to push his chest flush against my own and hover his lips near my ear. "I'm just more confident now I know how much I can make you scream."

-

I was incredibly lucky later that day, for in his way of apologising other than what had happened twenty four hours ago, Leo had offered to have Riley to give me some alone time. Although that meant I wouldn't have seen Riley in some time, I also realised that my son hadn't seen Thiago in a while, to the point he had cried the other week over it, and this night would do him some good.

Plus, little did Leo know, that meant I was free to hang with some of the friends I had made whilst going to Barcelona games.

Aine had told me that she was having a few friends over, Sofia, Elena and Raquel, and they wanted me to come too. I wasn't initially planning on going, but when Leo offered to take Riley, I considered it would be nice. I didn't really know Elena, Sergio Busquets' girlfriend, but I had become quite close with the other three lately, so much so that I had confessed my confusion over the whole Lionel situation in the chat we had together over text.

I was the second person to arrive after Sofia, and the three of us chatted quietly as we waited for the others to arrive. There was a knock on the door not too long later, and Aine got up to answer just as my phone buzzed to signal a message.

Looking down at the message, I was greeted with a photo of a recent scan my sister-in-law had been for, and I almost cried on the spot at how much the baby had grown. Maisy was nearing nine months now, and Troi had been very good as to keep me incredibly updated with photos and messages.

I sent a quick reply, mainly containing crying emojis, just as Aine re-entered the room with the final two guests who had clearly carpooled in their taxi. Raquel smiled widely and hugged both me and Sofia, before I turned to Elena to fully introduce myself.

Within the first hour, I learnt all I possibly needed to know about the blonde, and even I had become excited by her pregnancy. It was rather on topic having just seen the photo from my brother, and it was nice to see that she was still giddy and happy around us despite being heavily pregnant. I did feel rather out of place with them all, and Raquel and I certainly found time to joke about how we were the only two not pregnant.

The conversations we had were quite calm for some time, mostly discussing our children with some reference to the World Cup, before the conversation inevitably turned to me.

"How's the situation with Leo?" Aine asked, taking a sip of her water as she made eye contact with me. Sofia and Raquel perked up, humming a little as they sat forward eagerly to listen, leaving only a confused Elena to which Aine clarified; "To cut it short, he was being a dick."

"Well," I started, feeling a lot smaller under all their gazes, but also struggling to hide the smile I wanted to wear at the memory of last night "He's looking after Riley tonight, if that's anything."

Sofia let out a quiet 'Ooh'. "I spoke to Luis about it, and he said Leo had been acting off when he brought your name up in conversation the other day.. So that changed pretty quickly."

"It changed last night. He came to mine around 10 to apologise." I smiled down at my wine glass, leaning back against the sofa and pulling my legs to my chest "Confessed his love and all that shit."

It felt like all of the girls stopped breathing for a moment and I could only hear the sound of the radio in the background until Aine broke the silence, staring at me "Wait! Literally?"

I didn't reply verbally but instead flicked my eyes up to look at her, taking a sip of my wine with a smirk. All four girls in union let out excited squeals, even Elena who I barely knew, throwing tons of questions my way before I decided to put them out of their misery and explain the situation.

"He saw Antonella when he went back to Argentina, and apparently it was that that made him realise how in love with me he was. Said he was scared to speak to me because he was terrified of the feeling overall."

Raquel made a small 'aw' sound, touching her chest lightly "It's kind of romantic in a frustrating way."

"I'm glad I got him back." I stated, before quietly adding on "Especially now I know what I'd be missing out on."

Sofia almost spat her drink back out at the statement, and the other three shared her expression as they stared at me. "Wait you mean you..?"

"Let's just say the one place Lionel Messi isn't shy is in bed."

Aine squealed again, jumping around a little on the spot and causing me to laugh lightly. She looked at me with what could be translated as a sense of proudness in her eyes. "I can't wait to tell Phil about this!"

-

a/n: short filler chapter so i don't skip too much time! hope you enjoyed the little bit of fluff. there will be a few more chapters of fluff i promise, before in true fanfic style, everything gets a bit bumpier;)